The club was in trouble even before the season started due to spring training injuries to cleanup hitter Carlos Quentin and projected Opening Day starter Tim Stauffer.

During the early weeks of the season, the injuries snowballed into an avalanche as the disabled list grew to include as many as 13 players and cost the Padres the services of starting pitchers Cory Luebke, Dustin Moseley, Joe Wieland, Anthony Bass and Andrew Cashner in addition to Stauffer; closer Huston Street, and outfielders Mark Kotsay, Kyle Blanks and Jeremy Hermida.

In addition to injuries, the Padres didn’t play very well.

The offense and defense fell far short of projections over the first six weeks of the season. And when those areas started to come around, the injury-riddled pitching staff began springing leaks.

Then, immediately after posting a season-best six straight wins to build a little momentum, the Padres limped into the All-Star break with three straight home losses to the Reds.

The Padres finished the first-half with the fourth-worst record in the National League and are less than a game away from having the worst record. The Padres are not going to win the National League West this season. They will not be going to the playoffs.

And it is totally unrealistic to believe they could go the necessary 47-28 over the season’s final 75 games to even finish .500.

But what will we see from the Padres during the second half? Here are five things to watch:

The Sale

The surprise is that it hasn’t happened yet. Majority owner John Moores is down to negotiating with one party — the O’Malley Group led by the heirs of former Dodger owners Walter and Peter O’Malley and including a number of minority owners including pro golfer Phil Mickelson and members of the group that Jeff Moorad put together in 2009 to buy the Padres.

One source called the negotiations complicated because of all the moving parts. Members of Moorad’s group continuing in the new group will both profit and lose from this sale. They will make money on paper, but could lose in the percent of their holdings as the price of the club goes from $500 million to close to $800 million.

There is controversy in this sale. The agreement will allow Moores and the minority partners to get $200 million paid to the Padres by Fox Sports San Diego as the upfront fee in the $1.2-billion, 20-year television agreement. Major League Baseball will be asked to approve this after balking at granting Moorad and the Dodgers’ Frank McCourt similar access to upfront television payments.

Sources who believed the sale would be completed by the All-Star break are now saying it could be as soon as next week. The O’Malleys would like to be able to present their purchase to other major league owners in August for approval.

Who’s on Third?

The Padres are not unhappy with Chase Headley’s play at third. Far from it. Many thought Headley, who is above average defensively and is on pace to finish with 15 homers and 78 RBI, should have been the Padres’ representative in the All-Star Game.

But the Padres are deep in third basemen with Jedd Gyorko thriving at Triple-A Tucson and third also being the natural position for Logan Forsythe.

There is speculation that the 28-year-old Headley might be worth more than any other Padre on the trade market. With the trading deadline less than three weeks away, Headley is drawing interest from at least seven teams contending for playoff berths.

Trade Headley now? Trade him this winter? Or keep him, knowing that third base is covered. The Padres control Headley through the end of the 2014 season. He is making $3.475 million this season and is eligible for arbitration two more times before becoming a free agent.

Healthy starting pitchers

The Padres are close to the breaking point when it comes to starting pitchers, which makes it impossible to entertain offers for either Clayton Richard or Edinson Volquez at the trading deadline.

Of the 12 pitchers on the Padres’ list of starting candidates during spring training, Richard and Volquez are the only two still here who are healthy enough to pitch. Three-fifths of the current rotation — Jason Marquis, Kip Wells and Ross Ohlendorf — are pitchers the Padres acquired in desperation during the first half of the season.

The Padres are hoping Eric Stults will soon return to the rotation. Stauffer is close to throwing a bullpen session. But Bass (shoulder inflammation) is not yet throwing and Padres manager Bud Black said Thursday that Cashner (strained latissimus dorsi muscle) will not return as soon as hoped while Wieland could be facing surgery. Another injury could push the Padres rotation over the edge. Ohlendorf is a long reliever, not a starter.

Who is the masked man?

Even when Nick Hundley was hitting under .170, it was tough for the Padres to dispatch the 28-year-old to Triple-A Tucson. Pitchers love working with Hundley, who pours himself into game preparation.

But the switch-hitting Yasmani Grandal, 23, has proved to be a much stronger offensive force in his first nine games up from Tucson to replace Hundley. And the Padres have liked his work behind the plate.

The Padres are not ready to give up on Hundley — particularly because he has been signed to a long-term contract that guarantees him $9 million over the next three seasons. Could Hundley and Grandal work in tandem the way Hundley and Yorvit Torrealba did during the 90-win season of 2010?

That could be a possibility next season. But Grandal is looking more and more like the catcher of the future — at least until Austin Hedges is ready.

The futures of Quentin, Street

Other teams have also expressed interest in left fielder Quentin and closer Street as the July 31 trading deadline approaches. But Quentin is a free agent at the end of this season. And Street had a $9 million option for 2013.

What will either fetch for the Padres on the trade market — other than a payroll savings for the rest of 2012? Some observers point to the Mets last year getting Zack Wheeler for what was a one-month rental of Carlos Beltran as being indicative of what Quentin or Street might bring.